Ship in a Bottle
In the Professor James Moriarty ' |image= |series= |production=40276-238 |producer(s)= |story= |script=René Echevarria |director=Alexander Singer |imdbref=tt0708773 |guests=Dwight Schultz as Reginald Barclay, Daniel Davis as James Moriarty, Clement von Franckenstein as Gentleman, Stephanie Beacham as Regina Bartholomew |previous_production=Chain of Command Part 2 |next_production=Aquiel |episode=TNG S06E12 |airdate=25 January 1993 |previous_release=Chain of Command Part 2 |next_release=Aquiel |story_date(s)=46424.1 (2369) |previous_story= A Man Alone Babel |next_story= Babel Captive Pursuit }} =Summary= Data and La Forge are enjoying a Sherlock Holmes holodeck program when the two notice that a character programmed to be left-handed was actually right-handed. They call Lt. Barclay to repair the holodeck, but as he checks the status of the Sherlock Holmes programs, he encounters an area of protected memory. He activates it to find the artificial sentient Professor James Moriarty character projected into the Holodeck, who appears to have memory since his creation, including during the period while he was inactive (a feat Picard claims to be impossible). Moriarty wishes to escape the artificial world of the holodeck and was assured by the crew of the Enterprise that they would endeavor to find a way to free him, and is irritated at the lack of results on the part of the crew and their seeming lack of even the tiniest bit of effort. Picard, along with Data and Barclay, attempts to assure Moriarty they are still working on that goal, but Moriarty is dismissive of that. Moriarty confuses the crew by seemingly willing himself to existence by walking off the holodeck. He explains this to the stunned Picard and Data by saying, "I think, therefore I am.". Moriarty creates a companion for himself, the Countess Regina Bartholomew , commanding the computer of the Enterprise to place another sentient mind within a female character of the Sherlock Holmes novels. Moriarty then demands that a solution to get Regina off the holodeck be devised. He takes control of the Enterprise through the computer, insisting that a way be found for her to experience life beyond the confines of the holodeck. While assisting LaForge, Data observes that LaForge's handedness is incorrect, just as they had experienced earlier. Data determines that he himself, Picard, and Barclay never left the holodeck, and everyone and everything that appears to be the Enterprise is part of a holodeck program Moriarty created. At that moment, Picard realizes that he has unwittingly provided Moriarty with the command codes for the Enterprise. With this information, Moriarty takes control of the real Enterprise from within his simulation. Captain Picard finds a way to program the holodeck's simulation of a holodeck to convince Moriarty that he and Regina can be beamed into the real world, though in fact they are only "beamed" in the holodeck's simulation. Moriarty, satisfied with the ruse, releases control of the ship back to Picard. He and the Countess use a shuttlecraft given to them by Commander Riker to leave the Enterprise and explore the galaxy. Picard ends the simulation and returns to the real Enterprise. Barclay extracts the memory cube from the holodeck and sets it in an extended memory device in order to provide Moriarty and the Countess a lifetime of exploration and adventure. Picard mentions the possibility that the crew's reality may actually be a fabrication generated by "a little device sitting on someone's table." This unnerves Barclay enough for him to test the nature of his own reality one more time: he gives an audible command to "end program" to test whether he is still in a simulation. There is no response. =Errors and Explanations= Plot Oversights # Data not attempting to impersonate Moriarty in order to allow him and Picard to leabe the holodeck. Moriarty's programming would instantly recognise the deception. Equipment Oddities # The uniform Picard acquires in the Holodeck not disappearing when he and Data finally leave. The uniform was probably created by the holodeck replication subsystem. Nit Central # Aaron Dotter on Friday, September 15, 2000 - 4:42 pm: I am surprised no one entertained the idea of building an android body for Moriarity, or some sort of computer device they could download him into which would let him move outside. Sven of Nine on Tuesday, February 20, 2001 - 5:35 am: On the other hand, imagine what havoc could ensue had Moriarty acquired an android body. Can you say The Schizoid Man? Seniram It may not be possible to safely complete such a transfer. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 4:59 am: Picard, Data & Barclay are in the Holodeck. Would that be the same rinky dink little Holodeck we see at the beginning of the show? Three real people are wandering around, sometimes separately, in this tiny room and they not only think it is the Enterprise they never seem to bump into, or overhear, each other? The holodeck is designed to recreate internal walls. # Where did Barclay get that big old hunk of active memory? I don't remember him bringing it in, or even seeing it in the panel that he works on at the beginning of the show. Wasn't it already in place in the Arch? # LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 7:57 pm: Why didn’t Picard, Data and Barclay consider that they and Moriarty were still in the holodeck the moment Moriarty apparently stepped out of it in Act 1? I can buy Picard and Barclay possibly not thinking of this, but Data? Data’s mind is constructed to think of all possible permutations of a situation, and to approach problems using the scientific method. In trying to come up with an explanation for how Moriarty could step out of the holodeck, the first thing he should’ve attempted to establish was whether Moriarty was indeed still in it. The Holodeck may have been upgraded since Encounter at Farpoint to prevent Data recognising the actual walls. =Notes= Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation